The course gives an introduction to and an overview of the Biocatalysis field. It provides theoretical knowledge about the environmentally sustainable technical usage of enzymes for the production of high-value chemical products, and it covers various enzyme classes with the focus on enzyme reaction mechanisms and usage in chemical processing. The course describes important experimental techniques such as using enzymes in non-aqueous media, employing enzyme cascades and methods to optimize the stereochemical outcome of the reactions. Several industrial processes are discussed as examples. The course also covers current strategies for enzyme engineering and modification of enzymes for catalytic applications.

After passing the course, the student should be able to:

• demonstrate in-depth knowledge and analytical skills in the field of biocatalysis
• exploit and apply knowledge from basic biotechnology and chemistry courses to design environmentally sustainable enzymatic processes for industrial production of chemical products.
• formulate and discuss how biocatalysis can be applied in industry to create more environmentally sustainable biotechnological and chemical processes and, to reflect on sustainable societal development

The course contains lectures, exercises and a laboratory research project. The lectures are normally given live at KTH and are not recorded. The exercises consist of meetings on Zoom where tasks are solved in groups and exercises are submitted according to the assignment instructions provided in Canvas. The Research Project is planned and carried out according to a number of deadlines thrughout the course.

Passed biotechnology courses at basic level, organic chemistry at basic level, and eligibility to study at the advanced level.

The compulsory course literature consist of a few scientific review articles selected for each of the lectures in the course. These articles can be found through links provided for each lecture in Canvas. No compulsory text book is used but there are several optional books:

• Kurt Faber. Biotransformations in Organic Chemistry:  A Textbook, 7th Edition. Springer-Verlag:  Heidelberg. 2018. e-ISBN 978-3-319-61590-5. Available as e-book through the KTH Library.
• Andreas Liese, Karsten Seelbach, Christian Wandrey (Eds.). Industrial Biotransformations. 2nd ed. Wiley-VCH. 2006. e-ISBN: 9783527608188. DOI: 10.1002/3527608184. Available as e-book through the KTH Library.
• Bommarius & Riebel, Biocatalysis - Fundamentals and Applications, Wiley-VCH 2004. e-ISBN: 9783527602360. Available as e-book through the KTH Library.
• Silverman, R. B. The Organic Chemistry of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions, Academic Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-08-051336-2. Available as e-book through the KTH Library.
• Peter Grunwald, BIOCATALYSIS - Biochemical Fundamentals and Applications, Imperial College Press 2009. ISBN 978-1-86094-771-1 (used as course text book 2012)

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• LAB1 - Laboratory work, 1.5 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• TEN1 - Written exam, 4.5 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
• ÖVN1 - Exercises and seminarium, 1.5 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Laboratory work ( LAB1 )

This part is assessed with pass/fail. Efficient use of the lab time and shown knowledge of safety and good team work are requirements for the grade pass.

Written exam ( TEN1 )

The majority of the learning outcomes of the course will be assessed through a home exam. This will consist of several tasks and the work to fulfill all tasks is expected to take about one week to complete. 

Exercises and seminarium ( ÖVN1 )

This part will be assessed based on the submitted assignments and the planning of the research project. This part is graded A-F and the grade will primarily be based on:

• Your ability to plan the research project. You should come up with your own ideas based on literature research and your final lab plan should include all the necessary details.
• Your ability to document the work in the lab journal.
• Your ability to interpret your results, draw conclusions and identify potential sources of error.
• Your ability to meet all the deadlines and hand in assignments on time.
• Your oral presentation.

Please note that often things don't go according to plan in a research lab. This is part of the course and is a valuable experience. Therefore, getting the expected result in the lab is not necessary to get a high grade. The important thing is the process, how well you plan, perform, analyze, evaluate and present your experiments.

The requirement for a final grade is grade E or above on TEN1 and ÖVN1 and grade P on LAB1.

The final grade will be calculated from 75% based on TEN1 and 25% based on ÖVN1.

The grade on ÖVN1 will not give a final grade lower than the grade on the written examination.

It is allowed to sign up and take the final exam of this course again to raise the grade. The term for this at KTH is "Plussning" or "Upping". https://www.kth.se/en/student/kurs/tentamen/betyg-1.324443 

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Home exam

The final assessment can be more of a learning experience for the students at the same time as the learning outcomes of the course are assessed. Therefore, a home exam was implemented 2021-2023. This is something students on previous corse evaluations have expressed a wish for. The examination 2024 was done in a computer room in a written exam. The home exam concept is once again implemented 2025.

Pedagogic model

The course was given online for the first time in 2021. The pedagogic model was therefore changed to flipped classroom with pre-recorded lecture videos for most of the lectures, where students had to prepare prior to a scheduled lecture meeting by watching pre-recorded material. This pedagogical model was kept even after the pandemic in 2022 and 2023. From 2024 regular lectures were given face-to-face again, primarily due to a new course responsible person. That structure is kept 2025.

Revised Canvas Structure

The course material has been re-organized on Canvas for clarity. The course is now divided into four modules from 2023.